DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR 

BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION 


BULLETIN.  1923,  No.  2 


By  ALICE  BARROWS 


SpecUlilt  in  Indatttial  and  Ectmomic  Relation!  in  Education 


Bweau  ol  Education 


injssp 

lllfanili 


WASHINGTON 

government  printing  otfice 
1923 


I^ibrary 

OF  THE 

University  ef  NortK  Carolina 

book  was  presented  by 

(J,  S,  ,  O-P  d.  oL.c<^di  cno 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR 

BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION 

BULLETIN.  1923,  No.  2 


A  SCHOOL  BUILDING  PROGRAM  FOR 
WASHINGTON,  NORTH  CAROLINA 

By  ALICE  BARROWS 

Spscialist  in  Industrial  and  Economic  Relations  in  Mucation 
Bureau  of  Education 


1 1 

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INTRODUCTION. 


In  December,  1921,  the  Board  of  Education  of  Washington,  N.  C., 
requested  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  to  make  a 
survey  of  the  school  buildings  of  Washington,  N.  C.,  with  a  view  to 
working  out  a  building  program  for  the  schools  of  that  city.  Miss 
Alice  Barrows  was  detailed  by  the  commissioner  to  make  the  survey, 
which  she  completed  on  December  8,  1921. 


Ill 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


https://archive.org/details/schoolbuildingprOObarr 


A  SCHOOL  building'  PROGRAM  FOR  WASHINGTON, 

N.  C. 


Contents. — Washington  has  twice  as  many  children  as  school  seats— What  congestion  means— Conditions 
in  the  negro  schools — No  modern  faciUties— Standards  for  school  buildings  changed  in  past  10  years— 
Children  deprived  of  play— Advantages  of  the  work-study-play  plan— Recommendations  for  a  build¬ 
ing  program. 


The  seriousness  of  Washington's  school-building  problem  consists 
in  the  fact  that  any  building  program  projected  now  must  not  only 
take  care  of  present  congestion  and  provide  for  growth  in  the  future, 
but  it  must  also  make  up  for  the  failure  to  provide  adequate  school 
facilities  during  the  past  10  years.  Washington  would  not  now  be 
in  its  present  deplorable  situation  in  regard  to  school-building  facil¬ 
ities  if  it  had  kept  up  with  the  growth  in  school  population,  but  it 
has  not  done  so,  and  therefore  the  city  must  now  not  only  provide 
for  the  future  but  pay  the  penalty  of  failing  to  meet  its  obligations 
to  the  children  in  the  past. 

WASHINGTON  HAS  TWICE  AS  MANY  CHILDREN  AS  SCHOOL  SEATS. 

The  present  enrollment  in  Washington  schools  is  1,691.  Ten  years 
ao*o  it  was  1,154.  In  other  words,  from  1910—11  to  1920—21  there 
has  been  an  increase  of  46.5  per  cent  in  school  population,  but  even 
in  1910-11  there  were  100  more  children  in  the  white  schools  and 
200  more  children  in  the  negro  schools  than  there  were  school  seats. 
At  present  there  are  22  classrooms  available  in  the  w^hite  and  colored 
schools,  and  there  are  45  classes  of  children.  In  other  words,  there 
are  twice  as  many  classes  as  there  are  classrooms  available. 

WilAT  CONGESTION  MEANS. 

Such  congestion  as  exists  in  the  W^ashington  schools  is  a  menace 
to  the  health  and  strength  and  mental  and  moral  development  of  the 
children.  Although,  as  has  just  been  pointed  out,  there  are  twice 
as  many  classes  as  there  are  classrooms,  yet  1,691  children  are  going 
to  school,  and  somehow  space  is  found  for  them.  As  a  result,  the 
following  conditions  exist:  In  the  white  schools  there  are  8  rooms 
with  mo'^re  than  40  children.  Little  first-pade  children  are  housed 
in  basement  rooms  where  the  air  and  light  are  very  bad.  Fi\e 
classes  of  primary-school  children  are  going  to  school  in  old  wooden- 

frame  dwelling  houses  which  are  not  fit  to  use  for  school  purposes. 

1 


2  SCHOOL  BUILDING  PROGRAM  FOR  WASHINGTON,  N.  C. 

The  children  are  packed  so  closely  into  the  little  sitting  rooms  of 
these  unsuitable  structures  that  one  row  of  seats  is  within  3  inches 
of  the  wall,  while  another  row  of  children  have  their  desks  directly 
beside  the  windows,  so  that  the  sun  shines  on  the  white  paper  on  which 
they  do  their  writing,  making  an  intolerable  glare  for  their  eyes. 
As  is  to  be  expected,  the  air  in  these  rooms  is  hot  and  close.  It 
would  be  far  better  if  these  children  were  not  in  school  at  all,  for  under 
the  present  circumstances  there  is  no  question  but  that  the  eyesight 
of  many  children  is  being  permanently  injured,  and  their  whole 
vitality  lowered  by  the  bad  air  and  cram])ed  positions  in  which  they 
have  to  sit  for  three  hours  a  day.  It  is  asking  too  much  of  any  teacher 
to  teach  under  such  conditions,  for  teaching  })ecomes  nothing  but  a 
heroic  struggle  with  the  impossible.  Washington  is  not  providing 
an  education  for  these  children  in  providing  these  old,  dilapidated, 
insanitary  buildings  for  them. 

CONDITIONS  IN  THE  NEGRO  SCHOOLS. 

If  the  conditions  in  the  white  schools  are  bad,  the  housing  con¬ 
ditions  in  the  negro  schools  are  infinitely  worse.  The  present 
negro  school  can  not  rightly  be  called  a  school  building  at  all.  It 
is  a  frame  structure  of  six  rooms  into  which  children  are  herded 
as  follows:  Sixty-four  children  in  one  room  with  55  seats 47 
children  in  another  room  with  only  36  seats;  49  children  in  a  room 
with  only  32  seats;  52  children  and  only  45  seats;  64  children  and 
58  seats;  63  children  and  48  seats;  and  76  children  in  a  room  with 
63  seats.  Because  there  is  not  enough  room  in  th(‘  original  building, 
rooms  have  been  rented  for  school  purposes  in  three  different  halls 
of  a  most  undesirable  type.  There  is  a  domestic-sci(vnce  room,  but 
no  running  water  in  the  building.  There  is  a  majiual-1  raining  shop 
of  a  totally  inadequate  size  and  inadequate  equipment. 

There  seems  to  be  no  question  on  the  part  of  thoughtful  members 
of  the  community  that  such  a  school  buildiiig  is  a  ridlection  upon 
the  city  of  Washington. 

NO  MODERN  FACILITIES  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  IN  WASHINGTON. 

But  not  only  are  the  Washington  schools  badly  cong(;sted,  and 
not  only  do  the  children  have  to  attend  school  in  buildings  which 
are  a  menace  to  their  health,  but  also  Washington  schools  are  almost 
entirely  lacking  in  modern  school  facilities.  There  is  an  auditorium 
in  the  white  school  (with  very  bad  acoustic  properties),  but  there 
is  no  gymnasium  in  either  of  the  schools.  There  is  no  shoj)  except 
the  one  just  mentioned  in  the  negro  school.  There  is  a  lunch  room 
but  no  domestic-science  room  in  the  white  school,  and  a  very  poorly 


iNo  class  should  have  more  than  40  children. 


SCHOOL  BUILDIK^G  PROGKAM  POR  WASHINGTON,  N.  C.  3 

equipped  cooking  room  in  the  negro  school.  Science  is  given  as 
one  of  the  courses  in  the  high  school,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there 
is  no  laboratory  worthy  of  the  name.  There  is  no  physics  laboratory, 
nor  mechanical  drawing  room,  nor  free-hand  drawing  room,  nor 
nature-study  room,  nor  music  room — in  fact,  none  of  the  modern 
equipment  considered  absolutely  essential  in  schools  at  the  present 
time. 

Such  a  condition  is  an  injustice  both  to  the  pupils  and  to  the 
teachers.  Washington  is  fortunate  in  having  a  teaching  force  with 
a  fine,  progressive  spirit,  and  a  real  professional  interest  in  their 
work,  but  all  the  material  conditions  of  the  school  tend  to  discourage 
the  development  of  such  a  spirit.  It  is  impossible  to  make  bricks 
without  straw,  and  it  is  equally  impossible  to  teach  shopwork  except 
in  shops,  or  science  except  in  science  laboratories,  or  drawing  except 
in  drawing  studios,  or  cooking  except  in  rooms  with  adequate  equip¬ 
ment,  or  academic  work  in  overcrowded,  badly  ventilated  rooms. 
The  teaching  force  of  Washington  deserves  adequate  buildings  and 
equipment  with  which  to  do  their  work. 

STANDARDS  FOR  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  HAVE  CHANGED  GREATLY  IN 

THE  PAST  TEN  YEARS. 

Before  Washington  can  carry  through  a  bond  issue  for  school 
buildings  which  will  meet  its  needs,  one  thing  is  absolutely  essential, 
and  that  is  that  the  people  of  Washington  understand  that  the 
ideals  in  regard  to  what  should  be  contained  in  an  elementary  school 
building,  a’nd  how  such  a  school  building  should  be  constructed 
have  undergone  a  very  great  change  in  the  past  15  years. 

It  is  generally  recognized  now  that  a  school  building  which  con¬ 
tains  nothing  but  classrooms  can  not  meet  the  educational  needs  of 
the  children  of  the  present  day.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  social 
and  industrial  conditions  outside  the  school  have  changed  radically 
in  the  past  decade,  and  schools  have  had  to  change  to  meet  the  differ¬ 
ent  conditions.  There  has  been  a  tendency  for  such  a  long  time  to 
think  that  ''school”  and  "education”  are  synonymous  that  we  have 
failed  to  realize  that  this  is  not  necessarily  the  case. 

For  example,  Washington,  at  present,  is  supplying  only  classrooms 
for  the  majority  of  its  children  in  its  schools,  and  yet  as  a  matter  of 
fact  no  child  was  ever  educated  by  classroom  study  alone.  All 
children  have  always  been  educated  by  three  things— work  and  study 
and  play.  If  they  are  deprived  of  any  one  of  these,  their  education 
is  incomplete.  We  all  know  when  we  stop  to  think  of  it  that  a 
child’s  education  goes  on  each  day  from  the  moment  that  he  gets  up 
in  the  morning  until  he  goes  to  bed  at  night.  Some  of  this  education 
he  gets  in  school  and  some  of  it  he  gets  outside  of  school,  but  and 


4  SCHOOL  BUILDING  PROGEAM  POE  WASHINGTON,  N.  C, 

this  is  the  important  point — the  kind  of  education  which  the  child  of 
to-day  gets  outside  of  school*  is  very  different  from  what  ho  received 
50  years  ago  outside  of  school,  while  the  education  which  he  received 
in  school  has  remained  much  the  same. 

Fifty  years  ago  he  began  the  day  by  doing  chores  about  the  farm, 
taking  care  of  the  animals,  mending  a  piece  of  harness  or  part  of  a 
wagon.  Then  he  went  to  school  and  got  the  ^H^ook  learning’’  that 
he  could  not  get  at  home,  and  after  school  he  played  in  the  fields, 
or  stopped  in  at  a  blacksmith  shop  or  carpenter  shop  and  watched  a 
friend  at  work  and  learned  to  handle  tools  himself.  All  this  work  on 
the  farm  and  in  small  shops  was  education,  and  the  schoolhouse 
simply  supplemented  it — and  not  very  efficiently  at  tliat.  We  often 
hear  men  of  an  older  generation  say  that  they  accomplished  a  great 
deal  in  life,  and  yet  the  only  education  I  received  wjis  in  the  little 
red  schoolhouse.”  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  tliat  was  not  the  only 
education  they  received.  The  large  part  of  their  education  they 
received  outside  of  school  in  meeting  real  situations  that  had  to  be 
solved,  and  having  the  opportunity  to  experiment,  to  handle  tools, 
to  invent  new  ways  of  doing  things. 

But  times  have  changed.  During  the  past  50  years  has  come  the' 
growth  of  the  modern  cities  until  now  half  the  population  of  the 
country  is  concentrated  in  them.  And  the  city,  whether  large  or 
small,  is  a  poor  place  for  raising  children  because  it  deprives  them  of 
the  healthy,  wholesome  work  and  play  which  are  essential  elements 
in  their  education.  Children  in  the  cities  no  longer  get  the  chance 
to  take  part  in  activities  about  the  home  or  in  the  community  life, 
which  formerly  were  so  educational  in  character,  fur  the  reason  that 
such  activities  are  no  longer  carried  on  in  the  home. 

In  a  modern  city  home,  the  clothes,  furniture,  and  to  a  large  extent 
the  food,  are  made  outside  the  home — and  very  often  the  eating  is 
done  outside  the  home.  We  often  hear  the  fact  deplored  that  ‘Hhe 
home  is  not  what  it  was,”  and  that  ‘4f  fathers  and  mothers  would 
look  after  their  children  more”  things  would  be  as  they  used  to  be. 
But  things  would  not  be  as  they  used  to  bo  for  the  sim})le  reason 
that  the  economic  facts  in  regard  to  the  home  are  not  what  they  used 
to  be.  It  is  not  the  parents’  fault  nor  the  children’s.  Economic 
changes  have  taken  certain  simple  fundamental  educational  ac¬ 
tivities  out  of  the  home,  and  neither  optimism  nor  hope  will  put 
them  back  in  again.  The  modern  city — and  Washington  is  like  all 
others  in  this  respect — fails  to  give  children  the  opportunity  to  create 
things  with  their  brains  and  hands  which  the  simpler  farm  environ¬ 
ment  of  a  generation  ago  made  possible. 

But  children  will  find  a  way  to  express  their  desire  to  ^'do  things,” 
to  take  things  apart  and  put  them  together  again,  to  find  out  “how 


SCHOOL  BUILDING  PEOGBAM  FOE  WASHINGTON,  N.  C.  o 

things  work.’^  If  they  can  not  do  this  legitimately  and  constructively, 
they  will  do  it  behind  their  elders’  backs,  and  destructively.  And 
because  it  upsets  the  smooth  working  of  our  adult  world  we  call  it 
mischief.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  mischief  in  the  modern  city  child  is 
often  nothing  but  the  expression  of  a  thwarted  instinct  for  self- 
expression  and  creative  work. 

THE  CITY  DEPEIVES  CIIILDEEN  OF  PLAY. 

Changed  social  and  industrial  conditions  have  not  only  deprived 
children  of  the  opportunity  for  wholesome  creative  work,  but — what 
is  even  more  serious — modern  cities  have  taken  away  from  children 
the  opportunity  for  wholesome  play. 

Cities  are  the  lost  playgrounds  of  children.  The  city  gradually 
extends  until  there  is  little  or  no  free-play  space  left,  and  the  children 
are  driven  to  the  streets  as  their  only  place  for  play.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  children  in  a  modern  city  spend  twice  as  much  time  being 
educated  on  the  streets  as  they  spend  being  educated  in  school.  On 
the  basis  of  the  365  days  of  the  year,  children  are  under  the  super¬ 
vision  of  the  school  on  an  average  of  not  more  than  2^  hours  a  day. 
Investigation  has  shown  that  all  other  child-welfare  agencies  do  not 
occupy  a  child’s  time  on  an  average  of  more  than  10  minutes  a  day. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  city  home  can  not  keep  a  child  wholesomely 
occupied  for  more  than  6  hours  a  day.  Adding  10  hours  for  sleep, 
there  are  still  more  than  5  hours  to  be  accounted  for,  and,  as  is  well 
known,  these  hours  are  spent  by  the  children  on  the  city  streets. 
And  the  street  is  a  most  efficient  teacher.  A  child  will  remember 
what  he  learns  on  the  street  far  longer  than  what  he  is  told  to 
remember  while  sitting  at  a  school  desk. 

In  other  words,  what  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  city  children  have 
to  face  is  the  fact  that,  judged  both  by  efficiency  in  getting  results 
and  by  the  length  of  time  which  children  are  under  its  influence,  the 
city  street — and  not  the  home  or  the  school — is  educating  the  mass 
of  children  in  our.  cities  to-day.  Can  any  community  afford  to  let 
such  a  condition  continue  to  exist  ? 

Washington  is  a  comparatively  small  city,  yet  there  is  no  public 
playground,  and  the  playgrounds  around  the  school  buildings  are 
entirely  inadequate.  The  result  is  that  children  have  to  play  on  the 
city  streets,  and  since  this  has  resulted  in  a  number  of  accidents  a 
campaign  is  now  on  to  prevent  their  playing  in  the  streets.  But  in 
spite  of  such  a  campaign,  it  may  safely  be  prophesied  that  they  will 
continue  to  play  in  the  streets  and  continue  to  be  hurt  until  adequate 
play  space  is  provided  for  them. 

30988°— 23 - 2 


6  SCHOOL  BUILDING  PEOGEAM  POE  WASHINGTON,  N.  C. 

LITTLE  OPPORTUNITY  FOR  WORK  OR  PLAY  IN  THE  TRADITIONAL  SCHOOL. 

Such  are  the  conditions  surrounding  children/s  lives  in  the  modern 
city  outside  of  school.  In  the  meantime,  in  school  the  majority  of 
children  get  only  school  seats  in  classrooms. 

It  is  true  that  new  educational  ideals  and  new  educational  methods 
have  developed  very  rapidly  in  the  past  50  years,  in  response  to  the 
demands  of  changed  social  and  industrial  conditions,  until  now"  the 
actual  subjects  in  the  present  curriculum  include  far  more  than  the 
original  three  R’s. 

For  example,  the  Washington  public  elementary  schools  include 
in  their  curriculum  most  of  the  subjects  taught  in  a  modern  public 
school.  But  wdiile  the  schools  have  added  these  suf)j(‘cts  in  response 
to  changes  in  social  and  industrial  conditions,  the  t(‘achcrs  are  being 
compelled  to  teach  them  in  buildings  adapted  to  the  three  II  instruc¬ 
tion  of  a  hundred  years  ago.  It  is  asking  too  much  of  any  teacher; 
for  no  teacher,  however  gifted,  can  make  bricks  without  straws 
To  ask  them  to  teach  not  only  the  thi'ee  B’s  but  drawing  and  music 
and  nature  study,  and  even  physical  training,  in  classrooms  full  of 
school  seats  is  asking  the  impossible. 

Good  workmanship  can  not  be  taught  by  talking  about  it  in  a 
classroom  instead  of  giving  children  a  chance  to  w"ork  in  shops, 
cooking  rooms,  sewdng  rooms,  and  drawing  rooms.  Scientific  curi¬ 
osity  can  not  be  encouraged  and  developed  by  reading  about  experi¬ 
ments  in  physics  and  chemistry  instead  of  having  the  opportunity 
actually  to  conduct  experiments  in  woll-equip])ed  science  labora¬ 
tories;  and  healthy  bodies  can  not  be  developed  l)y  assigning  les¬ 
sons  in  a  hygiene  textbook,  or  by  having  children  go  through  two  or 
three  minutes  of  physical  training  in  a  classroom  full  of  school  seats. 

Children,  like  adults,  learn  to  live  by  living.  Studying  books  is 
only  a  part,  though  an  important  part,  of  living.  Working  and 
playing;  experimenting,  testing,  and  making  mistakes;  (umstructing 
something;  reading  and  studying;  growing  healthy  and  strong  through 
play;  learning  to  play  and  work  with  each  other;  and  expressing  to 
ourselves  and  to  one  another  more  or  less  adequately  and  j)eautifully 
what  w^e  think  and  feel  about  it  all — that  is  living.-  Tliese  are  the 
things  that  all  of  us  are  doing  or  trying  to  do  all  the  time  (‘xcept  in 
school.  Yet,  presumably,  the  purpose  of  the  school  is  to  help  chil¬ 
dren  to  do  more  adequately  and  efficiently  and  joyfully  what  they 
are  going  to  do  anyway. 

A  school  building  with  nothing  but  classrooms,  such  as  is  found 
in  Washington,  N.  C.,  can  not  fulfill  this  purpose,  for  it  bears  little 
relation  to  life.  It  is  like  nothing  which  children  will  meet  in  life 
outside  of  school,  either  while  they  are  children  or  when  they  grow  up. 
It  is  like  nothing  in  the  world  but  itself,  and  it  has  outgrown  its 
usefulness. 


SCHOOL  BUILDING  PROGRAM  FOR  WASHINGTON,  N.  C. 


7 


THE  MODERN  SCHOOL  BUILDING  MUST  PROVIDE  THE  OPPORTUNITIES 

FOR  WORK  AND  PLAY  WHICH  THE  HOME  CAN  NO  LONGER  SUPPLY. 

It  is  for  all  these  reasons  that  there  has  come  to  be  a  general  recog- 
nition  of  the  fact  that  the  city  school  must  not  only  supply  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  study  in  good  classrooms  under  wholesome  conditions, 
but  it  must  also  return  to  children  the  opportunity  for  the  healthy 
work  and  play  which  the  home  can  no  longer  supply.  This  means 
that  the  modern  city  school  building  must  have  not  only  classrooms 
but  shops,  science  laboratories,  drawing  and  music  rooms,  cooking 
and  sewing  rooms,  auditorium  and  gymnasiums,  and  there  must  be 
ample  playground  space  about  the  school.  And  the  elementary  school 
huilding  must  have  these  facilities  as  well  as  the  high  school. 

But  how  is  a  modern  city  to  develop  a  building  program  which 
will  not  only  eliminate  congestion  but  also  provide  these  modern 
educational  facilities  ? 

IMPOSSIBLE  TO  ELIMINATE  CONGESTION  ON  THE  RESERVED-SEAT 

BASIS,  OR  THE  PEAK-LOAD  ”  PLAN. 

The  answer  is  that  these  results  can  not  be  accomplished  until  it  is 
realized  that  no  growing  city  can  even  eliminate  congestion  (not  to 
mention  providing  modern  educational  facilities)  on  the  basis  of  a 
reserved  seat  for  every  child,  any  more  than  railroads  could  function 
if  each  citizen  had  to  have  his  own  private  car  seat  for  his  own  exclu¬ 
sive  use  during  the  entire  year. 

In  other  wmrds,  the  public-school  system  can  not  expect  to  eliminate 
congestion  if  it  continues  to  operate  on  what  is  known  among  engi¬ 
neers  and  business  men  as  the  peak-load ’’  basis,  i.  e.,  concentrating 
the  greatest  number  of  children  at  any  one  time  in  one  place,  leaving 
all  other  facilities  unused.  Yet  that  is  exactly  what  is  happening 
at  the  present  time.  According  to  the  traditional  school  plan  all 
children  have  to  be  in  school  seats  at  9  oTlock,  or  whenever  the  fiist 
period  begins,  and  remain  there  until  12,  when  they  all  go  home  to 
lunch.  They  all  return  at  1  o’clock  and  study  in  school  seats  until 
3,  when  they  are  all  turned  out  into  the  parks  and  playgrounds  foi 
play.  Apparently,  the  traditional  school  is  run  on  the  assum])tion 
that  all  persons  in  school  wxant  to  do,  or  ought  to  do,  the  same  thing 
at  the  same  time.  Yet,  if  w^e  applied  that  principle  to’ any  other 
public  utility,  as  completely  as  w^e  do  to  the  school,  it  wmiild  be  im¬ 
possible  for  om’  social  and  industrial  mechanism  to  work. 

As  one  prominent  educator  has  pointed  out,  the  modern  city  is 
largely  the  result  of  the  application  of  the  principle  of  the  common 
use  of  public  facilities  which  each  person  in  the  community  needs  for 
his  personal  use  only  part  of  the  time.  ^^For  example,  public  parks 
ai*c  run  on  the  principle  that  not  all  people  will  w-ant  to  use  parks  at 


8  SCHOOL  BUILDING  PEOGBAM  FOR  WASHINGTON,  N.  C. 

the  same  time  and  that  there  is  hardly  any  time  when  no  one  wants 
to  use  the  parks.  Obviously,  a  park  system  which  insisted  that 
people  use  the  parks  from  3  to  5  o’clock  5  days  a  week  for  only  200 
days  during  the  year  would-be  extremely  extravagant.  And  yet  we 
run  our  public-school  system  so  that  children  can  not  use  play¬ 
grounds  except  between  3  and  5  o’clock  5  days  a  week.  In  many 
cities  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  are  invested  in  playgrounds 
and  yet  these  playgrounds  are  empty  of  school  children  all  day  until 
3  o’clock  in  the  afternoon.  In  fact,  in  some  cities  if  a  child  is  found 
on  the  playground  before  3  o’clock,  he  is  driven  off  because  he  is 
playing  truant.  Obviously,  the  playgrounds  exist  for  the  use  of  the 
children  and  yet  children  have  the  opportunity  to  use  them  only  a 
few  hours  a  day,  because  the  traditional  school  program  says  that 
thev  must  be  in  school  seats  from  9  to  12  and  from  1  to  3.” 

Our  transportation  system  is  made  possible  because  of  the  fact 
that  all  people  do  not  wish  to  ride  at  exactly  the  same  time;  concerts 
and  theaters  are  made  available  to  many  people  because  one  person 
can  use  another’s  seat  when  he  does  not  want  to  use  it.  Hotels  can 
accommodate  thousands  of  people  because  they  are  not  run  on  the 
principle  of  reserving  each  room  for  the  exclusive  use  of  a  single 
individual  during  the  entire  year.  Yet  a  hotel  room  used  only  four 
days  during  the  year  would  be  in  use  longer  than  the  average  school 
auditorium  is  used  during  the  year.  How  can  any  city  afford  to 
have  sufficient  school  auditoriums  if  they  are  to  be  used  regularly, 
as  they  are  now,  only  15  or  20  minutes  a  day  ? 

OTHER  PUBLIC-SERVICE  UTILITIES  OPERATE  ON  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF 
MULTIPLE  USE  OF  FACILITIES.  WHY  NOT  THE  SCHOOL? 

In  other  words,  all  public-service  institutions  except  the  school 
endeavor  to  holance  the  load  by  operating  on  the  principle  of  a 
multiple  use  of  facilities  all  the  time.  There  would  seem  to  be  no 
good  reason  why  this  principle  of  multiple  use  of  facilities  should 
not  also  apply  to  the  school.  There  would  seem  to  be  no  good 
reason  why  all  children  should  be  in  classrooms  at  the  same  time, 
nor  wdiy  the  auditorium  and  playground  and  shops  should  be  in  use 
only  a  fraction  of  the  day.  The  fact  is  that  there  are  many  things 
in  school  as  well  as  out  of  school  that  all  people  do  not  want  to  do 
at  the  same  time,  or  can  just  as  well  do  at  different  times.  More¬ 
over,  from  an  educational  standpoint,  there  is  obviously  no  reason 
why  children  should  all  have  to  do  the  same  thing  at  the  same  time. 
In  fact,  the  whole  trend  of  modern  educational  jiractice  is  away  from 
such  a  lock-step  system. 

Furthermore,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  problem  of  providing 
enough  classrooms  or  playgrounds  or  special  facilities  for  the  mass  of 
children  is  ever  to  be  met  if  all  children  have  to  be  in  classrooms  at 


SCHOOL  BUILDING  PROGBAM  FOR  WASHINGTON,  N.  C.  9 

the  same  time  and  if  all  children  have  to  play  at  once.  Wash¬ 
ington  might  spend  thousands  of  dollars  and  yet  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  each  year  there  would  be  an  insufficient  number  of  classrooms. 
Such  a  statement  is  based  not  merely  on  the  general  principle  just 
referred  to.  It  is  also  based  on  facts  gathered  in  school  building 
surveys  made  by  the  Bureau  of  Education  in  10  States  during  the 
past  two  years. 

If,  limvever,  the  principle  of  multiple  use  of  facilities  is  applied  to 
the  piihlic  school  it  is  financially  possible  to  eliminate  congestion  and 
provide  not  only  adequate  classrooin  accommodations  but  also  audito- 
riums,  gymnasiums,  laboratories,  shops,  cooling  and  sewing  rooms, 
and  dra  wing  and  music  rooms  for  the  mass  of  cJiildren.  In  fact,  in 
worlcing  out  a  building  program,  accommodations  may  be  provided  in 
all  facilities  if  they  are  used  constantly  by  alternating  groups  at  less 
cost  than  regular  classrooms  may  be  provided  on  the  basis  of  a  reserved 
seat  for  every  child, 

THE  WORK-STUDY-PLAY,  OR  BALANCED-LOAD,  PLAN  MAKES  IT  FINAN¬ 
CIALLY  POSSIBLE  TO  ELIMINATE  SCHOOL  CONGESTION  AND  PROVIDE 

MODERN  EDUCATIONAL  FACILITIES. 

A  different  type  of  school  organization  and  a  different  plan  of 
operation  from  the  traditional  are  required  in  order  to  do  this.  For¬ 
tunately,  such  a  type  of  organization  has  been  worked  out  by  school 
authorities  and  has  demonstrated  its  ability  to  effect  these  results. 
It  is  known  as  the  work-study-play,  or  platoon-school,  plan;  and  it 
is  now  in  operation  in  some  53  cities  in  the  country,  including  cities 
of  such  diverse  types  as  Detroit,  Mich.;  Pittsburgh,  Pa.;  Troy,  N.  Y.; 
Winnetka,  Ilk;  and  Newark,  N.  J. 

The  slogan  of  the  work-study-play  plan  might  be  said  to  be  “n 
seat  for  every  child  when  he  needs  it,  and  also  modern  educational 
facilities  for  work  and  play  and  adequate  time  to  use  them.” 

The  plan  grew  out  of  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  growth  of 
citv  conditions  makes  the  educational  problem  far  more  difficult 
than  formerly;  in  fact,  has  created  a  new  school  problem.  The  plan 
makes  it  practicable  both  administratively  and  financially  for  school 
administrators  to  provide  (what  all  progressive  school  administrators 
wish  to  provide  for  children)  not  only  classroom  accommodations 
but  also  auditoriums,  gymnasiums,  shops,  science  laboratories,  etc., 
where  children  may  be  kept  wholesomely  occupied  in  study  and  work 

and  play. 

HOW  IT  WORKS. 

The  work-study-play  plan  does  this  by  balancing  the  load  so  that 
half  the  children  in  a  school  are  in  classrooms  while  the  other  half  are 
at  work  and  play  in  well-equipped  shops,  laboratories,  auditoiiums, 


10  SCHOOL  BUILDING  PROGRAM  FOR  WASHINGTON,  N.  C. 

and  playgrounds.  For  example,  a  school  is  divided  into  two  parts 
each  having  the  same  number  of  classes,  and  each  containing  all  the 
eight  or  nine  grades.  The  first  part,  which  we  will  call  the 
school,”  comes  to  school  in  the  morning,  say,  at  8.30  or  9,  and  goes 
to  classrooms  for  academic  work.  While  this  school  is  in  the  class¬ 
rooms  it  obviously  can  not  use  any  of  the  special  facilities,  therefore 
the  other  school — B  school — goes  to  the  special  activities,  one-third 
to  the  auditorium,  one-third  to  the  playground,  and  one- third  is 
divided  among  such  activities  as  the  shops,  laboratories,  drawing, 
and  music  studios.  At  the  end  of  one  or  two  periods;  that  is,  when 
the  first  group  of  children  has  remained,  according  to  the  judgment 
of  the  school  authorities,  in  school  seats  as  long  as  is  good  for  them  at 
one  time,  the  A  school  goes  to  the  playground,  auditorium,  and  other 
special  facilities,  while  the  B  school  goes  to  the  classroom. 

The  following  is  one  type  of  program  that  may  he  used.  In  this 
program  each  school  (A  and  B)  is  divided  into  three  divisions:  Division 
1,  upper  grades;  division  2,  intermediate  grades;  division  3,  primary 
grades. 

Under  such  a  program  it  is  obvious  that  only  half  as  many  class¬ 
rooms  are  needed  as  under  the  traditional  system.  For  example, 
in  a  50-class  school  (2,000  pupils)  under  the  traditional  plan,  50  class¬ 
rooms  arc  needed  in  addition  to  all  special  facilities.  Under  the 
work-study-play  plan,  only  25  classrooms  are  needed,  since  only  half 
the  children  are  in  classrooms  at  any  one  time.  Therefore,  under  this 
plan,  the  cost  of  25  additional  classrooms  is  eliminated.  The  average 
cost  of  a  classroom  in  this  country  at  the  present  time  for  a  school 
of  that  size  is  $10,000.  Since  only  half  the  ususal  number  of  class¬ 
rooms  is  required  under  the  work-study-play-plan,  i.  e.,  25  classrooms 
in  a  50-class  school,  the  cost  of  the  remainder  is  released  for  all  the 
other  special  facilities. 

EDUCATIONAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  THE  PLAN — AN  ENPHCHED  CURRICULUM. 

The  important  point  about  the  balanced-load  plan,  however,  is  not 
its  economy,  but  the  fact  that  it  makes  possible  an  enriched  education 
for  children.  Under  this  plan  the  children  not  only  have  the  same 
amount  of  time  for  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  geography,  and 
history  as  formerly,  210  minutes,  but  also  50  minutes  of  play  every 
day,  50  minutes  of  auditorium  a  day,  and  50  minutes  of  shopwork 
every  day  in  the  week  for  a  third  of  the  3^ear;  science  every  day  for 
a  third  of  a  year;  and  drawing  and  music  every  day  for  a  third  of  a 
year.  At  present,  children  get  in  most  schools  in  the  country  a  10- 
minute  recess  period  for  play,  a  few  minutes  for  opening  exercises  in 
the  auditoriiun,  and  a  few  minutes  a  day  or  two  periods  a  week  for 
special  activities  often  carried  on  in  the  regular  classrooms. 


SCHOOL  BUILDING  PEOGEAM  FOE  WASHINGTON,  N.  C.  11 

FLEXIBILITY  OF  THE  PROGRAM  MEETS  INDIVIDUAL  NEEDS  OF  CHILDREN. 

A  program  based  upon  the  multiple  use  of  facilities  also  makes  it 
possible  to  have  a  flexible  program.  After  all,  schools  were  created 
for  children  and  not  children  for  the  schools,  and  it  should  be  possible 
to  adapt  the  program  to  meet  the  needs  of  individual  children  instead 
of  making  children  conform  to  the  program,  as  is  too  often  the  case. 
A  stud}’  of  the  different  types  of  work-study-play  schools,  in  different 
parts  of  the  country,  shows  that  it  is  possible  to  adapt  the  program 
to  the  needs  of  different  types  of  children  and  different  types  of 
communities. 

For  example,  a  child  who  is  backward  in  a  special  subject,  such  as 
arithmetic,  and  is  held  back  in  a  grade  because  he  can  not  master 
that  subject,  and  is  growing  discouraged  because  he  has  to  repeat 
the  whole  year’s  work,  can  double  ujd  in  arithmetic  for  a  number  of 
weeks  by  omitting  the  auditorium  period  until  he  has  made  up  the 
work  and  is  ready  to  go  on  with  his  grade  in  that  subject.  In  the 
meantime,  he  has  not  been  held  back  in  other  subjects,  but  has  pro¬ 
gressed  as  rapidly  in  them  as  he  is  able  to.  Or,  if  a  child  has  a  partic¬ 
ular  talent  in  some  subject,  he  can,  under  this  program,  double  his 
time  in  that  subject  by  omitting  his  auditorium  period  a  number  of 
times  a  week  and  yet  not  lose  any  time  from  his  regular  work. 

Again,  it  is  possible  to  adjust  the  time  of  beginning  or  leaving 
school  to  meet  the  desires  of  parents.  For  example,  it  is  possible  to 
arrange  to  have  the  school  begin  at  8.30,  8.45,  or  9  a.  m.,  or  any  other 
hour  desired.  Or,  if  the  school  begins  at  8.30  and  certain  parents 
object  to  having  their  children  leave  for  school  so  early,  it  is  possible 
to  put  these  children  in  the  ''B  school,”  which  begins  the  day  with 
special  activities;  in  this  case  the  children  can  omit  the  play  period 
or  auditorium  from  8.30  to  9.20  and  arrive  at  school  at  9.20.  Or, 
again,  many  parents  prefer  to  have  their  children  take  special  music 
lessons  after  school.  It  often  happens  that  home  work  or  staying 
after  school  interferes  with  these  lessons.  Under  the  "vork-study- 
play  plan  it  is  possible  to  put  such  children  in  the  A  school  and  let 
them  omit  the  play  period  or  the  auditorium  in  the  afternoon  fiom 
2.40  to  3.30.  There  is,  of  course,  no  reason  why  children  should  not 
be  given  credit  for  these  out-of-school  activities  if  so  desired.  As 
for  special  facilities  in  school,  each  community  and  each  section  of 
the  city  can  have  the  special  facilities  which  the  school  authorities 

and  the  parents  desire. 

OPPORTUNITY  FOR  SHOP  WORK. 

Another  advantage  of  the  program  of  the  work-study-play  scbools 
is  that  it  makes  it  possible  to  give  adequate  time  and  equipment  for 
manual  work.  The  object  of  shop  work  in  the  public  schools  is  of 


12 


SCHOOL  BUILDING  PROGRAM  FOR  WASHINGTON,  N.  C. 


course  not  to  make  meclianics  of  children  12  to  10  3^ears  of  age,  or 
even  to  prepare  them  to  become  mechanics.  Such  a  program  would 
be  most  undesirable  and  unfair  to  the  children  even  if  it  were  possible 
of  accomplishment,  which  of  course  it  is  not.  There  is  no  place  for 
specialized  trade  training  in  the  public  elementary  school.  But 
working  with  tools,  not  for  training  for  trade,  but  for  its  educational 
value  as  one  of  the  educational  experiences  of  the  race,  is  something 
which  all  children  should  have  the  opportunity  to  take  part  in. 
Nearl}/"  all  children  like  to  work  in  shops,  drawing  studios,  and  science 
laboratories;  and  they  should  have  the  chance  to  do  so,  whether  they 
are  going  to  be  lawyers  or  carpenters,  whetlier  they  are  going  to 
college  or  directly  to  work. 

At  the  present  time,  in  the  average  school  only  comparatively  few 
children  get  the  opportunity  to  do  any  constructive  work  in  school 
with  their  hands  and  they  get  it  for  only  few  minutes  a  week,  con¬ 
centrated  usually  in  two  days.  Under  the  work-studj^-play  plan  it 
is  possible  for  children  to  have  40  or  50  minutes  a  day  every  day  in 
the  week  in  shopwork,  science,  or  drawing  and  music,  and  since  the 
program  can  be  so  arranged  that  they  can  begin  such  work  at  the 
fourth  grade,  it  is  possible  for  them  to  take  part  in  a  variety  of 
activities  before  tlie^^  graduate,  so  that  they  can  find  out  what  they 
do  not  like  as  well  as  what  they  like. 

The  large  majority  of  children  who  drop  out  of  school  would  be 
much  better  off  in  school  until  they  are  16  or  more  if  the  school  met 
their  needs,  but  it  is  impossible  to  expect  them  to  stay  in  an  all- 
stud}^  school  in  which  the}^  have  little  opportunity  for  the  constructive 
work  which  most  children  like.  The  work-study-play  school  makes 
it  financially  and  administratively  possible  to  furnish  such  activities 
for  children,  and  thus  tends  to  keep  them  in  school  longer.  Further¬ 
more,  this  work  is  of  course  a  great  reinforcement  to  the  academic 
work  since  it  gives  practical  significance  to  arithmetic  and  English 
and  history.  In  fact,  the  special  activities  increase  the  time  spent  on 
academic  work. 

CHILDREN  ARE  NATURAL  SCIENTISTS. 

Children  are  natural  scientists.  In  every  hour  of  their  waking 
lives  out  of  school  they  are  experimenting  and  testing,  observing, 
collecting,  and  classifying.  It  is  only  in  school  that  they  get  no 
opportunity  to  experiment.  There  is  practically  no  science  work  in 
the  elementary  school  with  the  exception  of  a  little  nature  study. 
The  result  is  that  the  spirit  of  scientific  curiosity,  which  is  so  strong 
in  children,  is  now  being  starved  in  the  elementary  schools  instead  of 
being  fed  and  developed.  By  the  time  children  get  to  the  high 
school,  the  eagerness  of  their  curiosity  has  been  dulled  by  inactivity, 
and  in  its  place  other  interests,  which  often  have  their  genesis  on  the 


SCHOOL  BUILDING  PEOGEAM  FOR  WASHINGTON,  N.  C.  13 


city  streets,  have  developed.  Furthermore,  only  13.9  per  cent  of  all 
the  children  in  the  country  ever  complete  high  school.  Consequently, 
the  majority  of  children  never  get  any  training  in  the  subject  which  is 
the  foundation  of  all  our  social  and  industrial  life,  and  which  is  richer 
in  educational  content  than  any  other  subject  in  the  curriculum. 

But  science  can  not  be  taught  in  a  classroom  with  school  seats  and 
no  equipment,  and  it  can  not  be  carried  on  effectively  under  a  pro¬ 
gram  which  permits  such  work  only  tvdce  a  week.  Under  the  work- 
study-play  plan,  it  is  financially  possible  to  provide  well-equipped 
science  laboratories  and  it  is  administratively  possible  for  every  child 
to  get  40  or  50  or  60  minutes  a  day  of  science  work  every  day  in  the 
week  for  a  third  of  each  year  or  more. 

THE  VALUE  OP  THE  AUDITORIUM. 

In  the  traditional  school  the  auditorium  is  used  regularly  for  audi¬ 
torium  purposes  only  15  or  20  minutes  a  day  for  opening  exercises. 
In  Washington  it  is  not  used  so  often  as  that.  By  failing  to  utilize 
an  auditorium,  the  school  for  years  has  left  unused  a  feature  of  school 
work  which  is  of  the  greatest  educational  value. 

Under  the  work-study-play  plan  the  auditorium  is  used  every 
period  of  the  day  by  different  groups  of  children,  since  one-sixth  of 
the  school  is  alwa3^s  in  the  auditorium  and  one-sixth  on  the 
pla^^ground. 

Since  a  description  of  what  has  already  been  accomplished  in  a  new 
line  of  work  is  always  more  convincing  than  a  statement  of  what  may 
be  accomplished,  we  shall  quote  that  part  of  the  annual  report  of  the 
board  of  education  of  Detroit  which  deals  with  the  auditorium. 
Detroit  already  has  42  schools  operating  on  the  platoon  or  work- 
study-play  plan. 

The  auditorium  of  the  platoon  school  adds  to  the  elementary  school  an  entirely  new 
and  important  socializing  unit  which  the  traditional  school  did  not  have.  The 
possibilities  of  this  unit  are  almost  unlimited.  When  its  possibilities  are  finally  worked 
out  and  realized,  it  will  probably  be  found  to  be  the  most  effective  educational  force 
in  the  entire  organization. 

The  auditorium  does  not  have  the  atmosphere  or  the  paraphernalia  of  the  school¬ 
room.  It  has  rather  the  general  spirit  of  freedom  from  restraint  found  in  an  ordinary 
^  *  *  *  The  platoon  school  provides  30  minutes  dailj'  in  the 

auditorium  for  every  pupil.  *  *  *  The  auditorium  accommodates  9G0  pupils  at 
least  every  day.  *  *  * 

The  auditorium  as  an  integral  part  of  the  elementary  school  has  two  distinct 
functions: 

1.  As  a  socializing  unit. 

2.  As  an  integrating  and  correlating  unit.  *  *  * 

All  auditorium  activities  have  behind  them  the  social  motive.  Thus  in  this  unit  of 
the  school  our  best-equipped  teachers  consciously  and  definitely  attempt  to  tram 
children  for  social  life  and  for  citizenship.  The  development  of  auditorium  possi¬ 
bilities  is  still  in  an  experimental  stage,  but  enough  has  been  done  to  convince  the 
most  skeptical  that  this  is  an  educational  factor  which  is  destined  to  be  recognized  in 


14  SCHOOL  BUILDING  PEOGEAM  FOE  WASHINGTON,  N.  C. 


the  future  not  only  in  elementary  education  but  in  intermediate  and  secondary  schools 
as  well.  *  *  * 

Auditoriums  are  equipped  with  apparatus  for  the  projection  of  slides  and  moving 
pictures.  The  board  of  education  has  a  collection  of  8,000  educational  slides  that  are 
available  at  all  times  so  that  some  stereopticon  work  may  be  done  daily.  One  day 
each  week  the  entire  time  of  the  auditorium  is  given  over  to  moving  pictures.  Advance 
notices  of  the  films  to  be  shown  are  sent  to  schools,  and  films  adapted  to  both  primary 
and  grammar  grades  are  selected. 

Auditoriums  are  supplied  with  phonographs,  and  a  library  of  records  is  owned  by 
the  board  of  education.  Pupils  constantly  hear  good  vocal  and  instrumental  music, 
and  one  day  a  month  a  special  teacher  of  music  visits  each  auditorium  to  conduct 
auditorium  classes  especially  intended  to  develop  musical  appreciation.  *  *  * 

The  platoon  school  has  in  the  auditorium  that  which  the  traditional  school  does  not 
have,  an  integrating,  correlating  force.  *  *  *  Of  what  value  is  the  training  in 
arithmetic,  grammar,  and  geography  if  the  pupil  goes  forth  into  life  socially  unfit? 
It  is  highly  desirable  that  the  experiences  which  the  pupil  has  in  the  home  room,  the 
gymnasium,  the  playground,  the  music  room,  the  literature  room,  or  the  studio  shall 
be  revived  again  in  the  auditorium,  where  they  may  be  reinterpreted  for  him  in  terms 
of  their  social  value.  *  *  *  The  pupils  easily  come  to  realize  the  relationship 
between  the  physical  exercises  of  the  gymnasium  and  the  health  talks  of  the  audi¬ 
torium;  between  the  geography  lessons  of  the  home  room  or  science  room  and  the 
stereopticon  pictures  and  moving  pictures  of  the  auditorium;  and  between  the  story¬ 
telling  in  the  literature  room,  the  music  and  singing  in  the  music  room,  and  the  Mother 
Goose  operetta  in  the  auditorium. ^ 

THE  SCHOOL  TAKES  OVER  THE  STREET  TIME  OF  THE  CHILD. 

As  has  been  pointed  out,  one  of  the  most  undesij;able  elements 
in  the  life  of  city  children  is  the  street  life  in  which  they  have  hitherto 
spent  so  large  a  part  of  their  time.  Obviously,  because  of  the  con¬ 
ditions  of  modern  city  life,  it  is  necessary  that  the  school  take  over 
some  of  the  time  now  spent  by  the  child  on  the  city  streets.  The 
work-study-play  plan  does  this  by  lengthening  the  school  day  an 
hour  or  two  as  each  community  may  desire,  and  by  offering  to  the 
children  the  wholesome  activity  in  shops  and  laboratories  and  on 
the  playgrounds  which  is  so  essential  for  them. 

THE  WORK-STUDY-PLAY  PLAN  NOT  AN  UNTRIED  METHOD  OF  SCHOOL  ORGANIZATION. 

The  work-study-play  plan  is  not  an  untried  method  of  school 
organization.  It  has  been  in  operation  for  the  past  12  or  15  years, 
and  it  has  been  worked  out  in  communities  of  widely  different  char¬ 
acter — large  industrial  centers  like  Detroit,  Mich.,  small  towns 
like  Stuttgart,  Ark.,  and  residential  suburbs  like  Winnetka,  Ill., 
and  Sewickley,  Pa.  The  Bureau  of  Education  has  at  present 
information  that  the  plan  is  in  operation  in  53  cities  in  21  States. 
The  cities  are  as  follows: 

Akron,  Ohio;  Baltimore,  Md.;  Birmingham,  Ala.;  Cuyahoga  Falls,  Ohio;  Dallas, 
Tex.;  Denver,  Colo.;  Detroit,  Mich.;  Dormont,  Pa.;  Duluth,  Minn.;  East  Chicago, 


*  The  platoon  school  in  Detroit,  Detroit  Educational  Bulletin  No.  2,  pp.  30-37. 


SCHOOL  BUILDING  PKOGKAM  FOB  WASHINGTON,  N.  C.  15 

Ind.;  Elizabeth,  N.  J.;  Ellsworth,  Pa.;  Carson  College,  Floiirtown,  Montgomery 
County,  Pa.;  Fort  Smith,  Ark.;  Franklin,  N.  J.;  Gary,  Ind.;  Greenwich,  Conn.; 
Hazleton,  Pa.;  Ithaca,  N.  Y.;  Kalamazoo,  Mich.;  Kansas  City,  Mo.;  Memphis,  Tenn.; 
Monessen,  Pa.;  Montclair,  N.  J.;  Mount  Vernon,  N.  Y.;  New  Castle,  Pa.;  Newark, 
N,  J.;  Oakmont,  Pa.;  Passaic,  N.  J.;  Philadelphia,  Pa.;  Pittsburgh,  Pa.;  Rochester, 
N.  Y.;  Rockford,  Ill.;  Sacramento,  Calif.;  Saginaw,  W.  S.,  Mich.;  Seattle,  Wash.; 
Sewickley,  Pa.;  South  Bend,  Ind.;  St.  Paul,  Minn.;  Stuttgart,  Ark.;  Troy,  N.  Y.; 
Warren,  Ohio.,  Washington,  D.  C.;  Wilmington,  Del.;  Winnetka,  Ill.;  Youngstown, 
Ohio;  Durham,  N.  C.;  Asbury  Park,  N,  J.;  Braddock  and  Portage,  Pa.;  Long  Beach, 
Calif.;  New  Britain,  Conn.;  and  Port  Arthur,  Tex. 

SCHOOL  SUPERINTENDENTS  TESTIFY  THAT  WORK-STUDY-PLAY  PLAN  IMPROVES  ACA¬ 
DEMIC  WORK,  GIVES  ENRICHED  EDUCATION,  IMPROVES  HEALTH  OF  PUPILS. 

School  superintendents  from  46  cities,  in  which  it  has  been  in  opera¬ 
tion,  have  reported  upon  it,  and  have  stated  that  it  improves  the 
academic  work,  offers  superior  training  in  special  activities,  improves 
the  physical  condition  of  pupils,  and  represents  a  great  saving  in  class¬ 
room  space  and  in  cost  of  building. 

The  recommendations  in  regard  to  the  building  program,  which 
will  now  be  submitted,  have  been  worked  out  on  the  basis  of  the 
traditional  plan  of  school  organization  and  also  of  the  work-study- 
play  plan  of  school  organization  which  has  just  been  described. 

AIM  OF  THE  BUILDING  PROGRAM  SUBMITTED  IN  THIS  REPORT. 

In  making  out  the  building  program  for  the  schools  of  Washington, 
N.  C.,  the  aim  has  been  to  accomplish  the  following  things: 

First,  to  relieve  present  congestion  and  provide  for  an  increase  in 
growth  for  at  least  10  years. 

It  would  be  most  unfortunate  if  Washington  should  plan  its  build¬ 
ing  program  without  providing  for  growth  of  school  population  for  at 
least  10  years.  If,  for  example,  the  city  should  plan  for  an  increase 
for  only  5  years,  then  by  the  time  the  buildings  were  up  the  schools 
would  be  congested  again,  and  it  would  be  necessary  within  a  year  or 
two  to  ask  for  another  bond  issue. 

Second,  to  plan  a  building  of  the  expansible  type  so  that  it  may  be 
added  to  without  great  expense.  The  E-shaped  building  is  probably 
the  best  for  this  purpose  since  it  is  possible  to  add  classrooms  with 
little  expense  without  changing  the  character  of  the  building. 

Third,  the  cost  of  the  program  has  been  worked  out  after  a  careful 
study  of  building  costs  in  the  country  as  a  w^hole  and  with  the  best 
available  information  as  to  building  costs  in  Washington,  N.  C.  The 
cost  of  school  buildings  is  now  down  to  25  cents  per  cubic  foot  in 
many  parts  of  the  country  and  authorities  in  Washington  estimate 
that  the  school  buildings  can  be  erected  in  that  city  for  the  same 
amount.  This  makes  the  cost  of  the  building  $10,000  per  classroom 
unit.  ‘^Classroom  unit  cost’’  includes  the  cost  of  corridors,  stair, 
principal’s  office,  teachers’  rest  room,  toilets,  etc. 


16  SCHOOL  BUILDING  PROGEAM  FOR  WASHINGTON,  N.  C. 

Fourth,  the  cost  of  equipment  has  been  included  in  the  amount 
necessary  for  the  buildings.  The  importance  of  providing  modern 
equipment  can  not  be  too  strongly  emphasized.  Too  often  com¬ 
munities  make  the  mistake  of  providing  only  enough  funds  for  the 
shell  of  the  building,  and  almost  no  funds  for  the  equipment.  This 
is  comparable  to  erecting  a  factory  for  turning  out  automobiles  and 
providing  no  funds  for  macliines  or  tools.  It  is  futile  to  provide 
workshops  for  children  withoift  providing  tools  for  them  to  use  in 
the  workshop;  furthermore,  an  inadequate  supply  of  tools  is  only  a 
handicap  and  an  exasperation. 

Fifth,  the  buildings  should  be  of  fireproof  construction.  The 
estimate  of  cost  of  buildings  will  probably  come  as  a  surprise  and  shock 
to  many  a  citizen.  This  is  because,  up  to  the  present  time,  Wash¬ 
ington -has  not  had  the  habit  of  erecting  modern  fireproof  buildings 
for  its  children.  It  can  not  afford,  however,  not  to  change  that 
policy.  Great  care  is  taken  nowadays  that  modern  office  buildings, 
in  which  adults  work,  should  be  of  fireproof  construction. 

For  example,  one  of  the  most  recent  buildings  erected  in  Washing¬ 
ton  is  the  National  Bank  Building,  which  is  of  the  most  modern 
type,  and  cost  $133,000.  And  yet,  up  to  the  present  time,  the  total 
amount  of  money  spent  for  school  buildings  in  Washington  is  $37,000, 
and  no  school  building  is  of  fireproof  construction.  Is  not  the  safety 
of  1,600  children  as  important  as  the  safety  of  adults  who  work  in 
banks?  Again,  all  modern  factories  are  fireproof,  and  all  hospitals 
are  fireproof.  Is  not  preservation  of  the  lives  of  school  children  of 
a  cit}"  as  important  as  the  preservation  of  its  material  products? 
Is  it  not  as  important  to  protect  children  before  they  have  to  be  sent 
to  hospitals  as  after  they  arrive  there? 

Sixth,  the  aim  has  been  to  work  out  a  building  program  which  will 
give  modern  school  facilities  to  all  the  children  in  the  public-school 
system  of  Washington.  Too  often  there  is  a  tendency  to  invest  all 
the  available  funds  in  one  building  which  can  only  he  used  by  a 
minority  of  the  children.  This  is  neither  democratic  nor  fair  to  the 
children  of  the  city.  The  city^s  funds  should  be  so  spent  that  all 
children  would  receive  the  opportunity  for  a  modern,  all-round 
education. 

Seventh,  the  building  program  has  been  worked  out  on  the  basis 
both  of  the  traditional  type  of  school  organization  and  of  the  work- 
study-play  type  of  organization.  It  is  not  urged  that  Washington 
adopt  the  newer  type  organization,  but,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  many 
cities  are  now  organizing  their  schools  on  the  work-study-play  basis, 
it  is  recommended  that  a  careful  study  be  made  of  this  plan  and  that, 
to  this  end,  the  board  of  education  authorize  the  superintendent  of 
schools  to  visit  cities  in  which  the  plan  is  in  operation,  in  order  to 
make  a  thorough  study  of  it  and  see  how  it  can  be  adapted  to  Wash- 


SCHOOL  BUILDING  PROGRAM  FOR  WASHINGTON,  N.  C.  17 

ington.  It  is  further' suggested  that  it  would  he  desirable  for  the 
members  of  the  board  of  education  themselves  to  visit  cities  in  which 
schools  are  organized  on  the  basis  of  this  modern  type  of  organization. 

RECOMMENDATIONS  FOR  A  BUILDING  PROGRAM. 

WHITE  SCHOOLS. 

It  is  recommended  that  the  high  school,  consisting  of  the  seventh, 
eighth,  ninth,  tenth,  and  eleventh  grades,  remain  in  the  present 
white-school  building,  and  that  a  new  elementary-school  building  be 
erected  for  the  first  six  grades  on  the  site  already  purchased  on 
— - - — - - —  Street  between  Fourth  and  Fifth  Streets.  Ulti¬ 

mately,  the  present  building  should  be  abandoned,  and  all  the  pupils 
from  grade  1  to  12  housed  in  one  building. 


A  NEW  ELEMENTAnY-SCHOOL  BUILDING  FOR  THE  FIRST  SIX  GRADES. 

The  enrollment  to  be  provided  for  would  be  as  follows: 


Enrollment  (1920-21) .  720 

33  per  cent  increase  for  10  years .  237 

Total .  957 

Or  24  classes.^ 


Under  the  work-study-play  plan,  in  a  24-class  school  12  classrooms 
would  be  needed.  There  should  also  be  an  auditorium,  and  a  gymna¬ 
sium,  and  at  least  6  special  facility  rooms — for  example,  2  shops  for 
boys,  1  cooking  room  for  girls,  1  sewing  room,  1  drawing  room,  and  1 
nature-study  room.  This  would  make  18  units  in  all.  The  class¬ 
room  unit  cost  is  $10,000.  Therefore,  the  cost  of  the  building  would 
be  $180,000,  plus  $50,000  for  an  auditorium  and  gymnasium.  The 
cost  of  the  equipment  would  be  $18,000.  The  total  cost  for  building 
and  equipment  would  be  $248,000. 

Under  the  traditional  plan,  it  would  be  necessary  to  have  12  addi¬ 
tional  classrooms  at  a  cost  of  $10,000  each,  or  a  cost  of  $120,000, 
with  additional  equipment  $6,000.  This  would  make  a  total  cost 
under  the  traditional  plan  of  $374,000. 


ADDITION  AND  EQUIPMENT  FOR  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL. 


The  enrollment  to  be  provided  for  in  grades  7-11  is  as  follows: 


Enrollment  (November  1,  1921) 
33  per  cent  increase  for  10  years 

Total . 

Or  14  classes.^ 


309 

101 


410 


There  are  16  classrooms  in  the  present  white  school  building. 
Seven  of  these  could  be  used  for  academic  work  and  the  other  nine 


3  Forty  pupils  to  a  class. 


*  Thirty  pupils  to  a  class. 


18  SCHOOL  BUILDING  PROGRAM  FOR  WASHINGTON,  N.  C. 

rooms  for  special  activities,  plus  two  rooms  in  the  basement  for  cook¬ 
ing  and  shop  work. 

There  is  practically  no  modern  equipment  in  this  building.  In 
order  to  do  high-school  work  nine  rooms  should  be  set  aside  for 
special  activities.  The  list  of  special  activities  and  cost  of  equipment 


for  each  activity  is  given  as  follows: 

EQUIPMENT. 

1  chemistry  laboratory .  $1,  500 

1  physics  laboratory .  1,  500 

1  print  shop . 2,  000 

1  woodworking  shop .  2,  000 

1  cooking  room .  2,  000 

1  sewing  room .  1,  000 

1  commercial  room .  1,  000 

1  mechanical-drawing  room .  500 

1  music  room .  500 


Total . .  12,000 


The  present  high  school  has  no  gymnasium;  therefore,  one  should 
be  constructed,  probably  at  the  rear  of  the  auditorium,  and  it  should 
be  so  built  that  the  auditorium  could  be  enlarged  sufficiently  so  that 
real  plays  could  be  given  on  the  stage.  The  cost  would  be  approxi¬ 
mately  $25,000;  equipment,  $2,000. 

Under  the  traditional  plan,  the  cost  would  be  the  same  for  the 
high  school  as  under  the  study-work-play  plan. 

The  total  cost  for  the  new  elementary  school  and  the  high  school 
under  the  work-study-play  plan  would  be  as  follows: 


One  new  elementary-school  building  for  grades  1-6 .  $248, 000 

Gymnasium  and  equipment  for  present  high-school  building .  39,  000 

Total .  287,000 


Under  the  traditional  plan,  the  cost  for  both  of  these  schools  would 
be  $413,000,  or  $126,000  more  than  under  the  work-study-play  plan. 

NEGRO  SCHOOLS. 

Total  enrollment  of  the  negro  schools  in  1920-21  was  711,  or  18 
classes.  There  has  been  a  68.4  per  cent  increase  in  enrollment  in  the 
10  years  since  1910-11.  A  new  building  should  be  erected  on  a  new 
site  to  accommodate  the  following  enrollment: 


Enrollment  (1920-21) . 711 

25  per  cent  increase  ® .  177 

Total . 888 

(Or  22  classes.) 


5  The  increase  provided  for  is  only  one-half  the  increase  which  has  taken  place  in  the  past  10  years, 
but  the  lower  figure  has  been  used  because  it  is  contended  by  the  school  authorities  that  the  large  increase 
in  the  past  10  years  was  due  to  the  stricter  enforcement  of  the  compulsory  education  law,  and  that  the 
increase  in  the  negro  population,  in  the  last  10  years,  has  not  been  proportionately  as  great  as  for  the  white 
population. 


SCHOOL  BUILDING  PROGRAM  FOR  WASHINGTON,  N.  C.  19 

Under  the  work-study-play  plan;  11  classrooms  would  be  needed 
and  at  least  4  special  rooms — 1  shop,  1  cooking  room,  1  nature- 
study  room,  1  drawing  room.  This  would  make  15  units. 


Cost  of  15  units .  $150,  000 

Auditorium  and  gymnasium .  50,  000 

Equipment .  11,  000 


Total .  211, 000 


Under  the  traditional  plan,  11  more  classrooms  would  he  needed 
at  a  cost  of  ^110,000,  plus  $5,500  for  equipment,  making  a  total 
of  $326,500. 

Summary  of  cost  of  building  program. 


School. 

Under  work-study-play  plan. 
Cost  of— 

Under  traditional  plan. 

Cost  of— 

Building. 

Equip¬ 

ment. 

Total. 

Building. 

Equip¬ 

ment 

Total. 

White: 

Nev/  elementary  school  for  grades  1-G.. 
Gymnasium  aiid  equipment  for  high 
school . 

Total . 

Negro: 

One  new  building  lor  grades  1-9 . 

Total  cost  for  white  and  negro  schools. 

$230, 000 

25, 000 

$18,000 

14,000 

$248,000 

39,000 

$350, 000 

25,000 

$24, 000 

14, 000 

$374,000 

39, 000 

255, 000 

32,000 

287,000 

375,000 

38,000 

413, 000 

200,000 

11,000 

211,000 

310,000 

16,500 

326,500 

455, 000 

43, 000 

498, 000 

685, 000 

54, 500 

739,500 

WASHINGTON  CAN  NOT  AFFORD  NOT  TO  GIVE  A  MODERN  SCHOOL 

PLANT  TO  ITS  CHILDREN. 

In  view  of  the  small  amount  of  money  which  has  been  expended  up 
to  the  present  time  upon  public-school  buildings  in  Washington,  a 
bond  issue  of  $500,000  will  probably  seem  a  large  amount  to  the 
average  citizen.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  this 
$500,000  is  really  taking  care  of  school  needs  for  20  years,  i.  e.,  for 
the  10  years  since  1910,  when  Washington  completely  failed  to  supply 
adequate  housing  facilities  for  its  children,  and  also  for  the  10  years 
from  1921  to  1931.  In  other  words,  by  issuing  bonds  for  $500,000, 
Washington  will  have  spent  only  $25,000  a  year  on  school  buildings 
for  20  years,  or  only  $14  a  year  per  child.  This  is  certainly  not  an 
exorbitant  amount  for  a  city  to  spend  on  its  children.  Further¬ 
more,  it  is  less  than  Washington  is  under  the  obligation  to  spend  lor 
schools,  inasmuch  as  it  has  been  spending  far  less  than  tlie  average 
city  of  its  size  on  public  schools. 

For  example,  in  1918,  Washington’s  tax  rate  in  mills  on  the  basis 
of  its  true  property  valuation  was  2.53.  Compared  with  442  other 
cities  of  the  same  population  group,  Washington  was  thirty-fourth 


20  SCHOOL  BUILDING  PROGEAM  FOR  WASHINGTON,  N.  C. 

from  the  bottom  of  the  list  in  its  tax  rate  for  schools,  and  the  propor¬ 
tion,  in  1920,  was  not  materially  different.® 

Again,  Washington’s  per  capita  expenditure,  in  1918,  was  $22.50. 
The  average  for  45  cities  for  the  same  population  group  was  $47.51. 
In  other  words,  Washington’s  per  capita  expenditure  for  schools  was 
less  than  half  that  of  the  average  for  cities  of  the  same  population 
group.  And,  although  the  per  capita  expenditure,  in  1921,  rose  to 
$32.71,  yet  the  average  increase  for  other  cities  was  also  $10,  so  that 
her  relation  to  them  was  the  same  as  in  1918.® 

The  truth  is  that  for  years  Washington  has  been  behind  in  its 
expenditure  for  school  purposes  and  in  its  appropriations  for  school 
buildings,  until  now  the  children  are  housed  under  conditions  which 
are  a  menace  to  their  health  and  strength  and  moral  and  intellectual 
development.  This  means  that  Washington  now  has  to  pay  for  its 
past  neglect. 

It  is  understood  that  because  of  the  issuance  of  bonds  for  street 
improvements,  etc.,  the  expenditure  of  an  additional  $500,000  for 
school  buildings  may  be  considered  more  than  the  city  can  afford 
at  present.  It  is  suggested  that  any  citizen  who  is  inclined  to  that 
point  of  view  visit  the  dilapidated  old  dwelling  houses  into  which  ’ 
little  children  of  7  and  8  years  of  age  are  crowded  in  badly  venti¬ 
lated,  badly  heated,  badly  lighted  rooms,  and  then  decide  whether 
Washington  can  afford  not  to  issue  school  bonds  for  $500,000  to  save 
the  health  and  strength  of  its  own  children. 

6  See  Statistics  of  public-school  systems,  by  11.  R.  Bonner,  U.  S.  Bu.  of  Educ.,  Bui.  1920,  No.  24,  p.  161. 

O 


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